Brian entered the field more than twenty years ago and was blown away by the new powers: the ability to access, link to and reuse seemingly endless learning resources. The ability to extend activities beyond the classroom, to connect to anyone with an internet connection. The ability to connect with educators worldwide, to share resources and expertise.
While this early promise gave rise to utopian hopes, even then they presented some fearful elements. Those fears have grown into an increasingly terrifying reality. In recent years he has tried to track developments and share concerns.
In any given week, there will always be some horrifying new developments. To pick a recent one, Clearview AI (a facial recognition software company that almost certainly has you in their database), announced it will offer its surveillance tech to Ukraine. “It seems no human tragedy is off-limits to surveillance companies looking to sanitise their image.”
NOW: The subsequent two years have largely been spent in a form of organizational triage, trying to maintain some semblance of mindful, ethical and sustainable practice. The ramped up intensity has made it harder to maintain the broader perspective needed to inform critical practice.
How about you? What brings you to this session? How have the past couple years changed or shaped your concerns about how digital technology influences higher education?
